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Comment by nradov | Hacker News Reader

Much of the homework assigned at my local public high school is repetitive busy work. I'm not surprised that students don't care. And some of it is a completely worthless waste of time, like literally making little arts and crafts projects that would be more suitable for elementary school. I know that teaching is a tough job but it seems like a significant fraction of them are putting in the least possible effort.

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Math, reading and writing are all accomplished by repetition and building muscle memory.

The adults in the room saying you don't need that in order to learn are doing a disservice to the next generation.

There is also a lot of busy work but again work and being able to do work, sustain focus requires the development of that skill and muscle. Especially in this day and age where everyone is vying for your attention.

Nah, only the dullards need a lot of repetition. I've seen brighter kids pick those subjects up extremely quickly.

All kids need repetition to learn - the level of repetition is dependent on the children. There is a 0% part of the population that picks up math or language without repeats. Also, work ethic and grinding is part of every humans life - there are 0 jobs without an aspect of grind and work. Much like learning, research and discovery requires grit which can be learned.

If you want to argue some children learn faster and can level up faster thats obviously a true statement.

Your "brighter kids" probably did their reps already, when you weren't watching. My 4 year old likes to quiz me on addition and subtraction at the dinner table -- two years from now, in some school, it'll look like he 'just gets it', which he will, but only because he already did his reps.

Couldn't agree more with you. I have kids of the same ilk. There certainly a differential in children's natural aptitude but they all do reps either publicly or privately - many people just don't realize it e.g. OP.

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